Would you like to buy some Beijing People's folk special? How about some fried pimple? It is very tasty. Ah yes, the joy of English signs in China. It is really strange, almost every written sign or slogan or name posted in Beijing either has an English translation or at least some English words thrown in. Most of the words or phrases or even paragraphs bear little resemblance to any meaningful English, it seems as if they are purely decorative. I guess it's kind of like the way we get Chinese character pendants or tattoos except to a much more extreme degree due American mass market saturation. It is very funny though, for the native English speaker. For example, there is this very chic clothing store on this really fancy street called "Gweat" and in Qian Men, this bustling open air market, you can buy very authentic Ralph Lauren "Polio" items, or if that doesn't suit you, there's always the shirt that says "Girn's power." Tonight we went out to this very posh area full of high end shops where there is this enormous 6 story bookstore. Everything inside had an English translation. Maybe it was the cumulative effect, or maybe because I was tired, but all of a sudden, the "Textbook of clavier" and the "Know-how of plant cultivation and animal husbandry" seemed especially funny, and I started to giggle, which brought me rude looks from the staff lady and especially blantant stares from the people who had been sereptitiously staring at me before. Chinese products often have English names or at least words that could be English, which the people in commercials will say enthusiastically with unintelligible Chinese accents. For example, "Rolly" was pronounced "Duo-li," or "Dwo-lee"
Maybe because Northwestern Europeans all speak English so well, we have it in our heads (especially us liberals who decry American provencialism) that every one in the world speaks 5 or 6 languages, including (or especially) English, better than we know our native tongue. Yet really no one in China (understandably) speaks English with any sort of true fluency (especially not government sign translators and perhaps more strange, not even the people translating for global corporations), and most people don't know any English at all. Before I left, people kept warning me that people would always try to speak to me in English, but I haven't found that true at all, beyond the few hucksters who shout "hello." Most people speak to me in suprisingly understandable Chinese, and seem pleased and good natured to talk to me.   ¶ 8:03 AM

  Well, well, well.
What things have happened since I last wrote! Since then, I have:
1) Had my first taxi ride. Words cannot describe Chinese driving, but I can give it a try: When we got in the taxi, it was double parked across this pretty major bicycle lane (they have killer bike lanes in China--too bad no one pays attention to those silly lines in the road). After we started driving we drove down this other bike lane and almost ran over these old ladies with bags of cabbages, drove on the shoulder of this major street, got cut off by this bus, and almost got in an accident with a BMW. And this was just in one 15 minute drive. We went to this big nursery near the Sino-German shopping mall (don't ask) and bought this decent sized shrubbery, so we had to hire a nursery van to get home. The back seat was not bolted down to the floor, but the guy covered it in newspaper and we sat on it anyways. Luckily, he was a slightly more careful driver than the taxi driver, but with Beijing traffic, it doesn't really matter, every one else drives (or rides or walks) so crazily.


2) Went to Tianamen Square with this American girl, N, who had a grant to study art at some university. I met her two days ago when I was out walking and she saw I was American. She had actually been in my program last summer, and was happy to meet another American. We then met up with her Sichuanese migrant CD bootlegger friend and went to an open air market and Zhang Shan park, a very famous park next to the Forbidden city. It was tons of fun to bum around and practice Chinese, though it is strange, I didn't think I would make underworld connections this soon! At one point, they had to do something and this other girl and I went with his other friend who peddles art reproductions into this dingy back room, and he explained to us what all the caligraphy meant. It was all fine and dandy, and this guy was very nice--although I could barely understand his thick Beijing accent--but it was more than a little bit seedy. However, N's friend was really great and very charismatic. Tianamen is amazing huge, and packed with tourists, who mainly seem to be Chinese. The markets are breathtaking, crowded, colorful and noisy and full of very cheap things. I think I like Beijing more and more everyday.

3) Rode the bus and the subway. It is strange. In Beijing, the subways are less crowded and safer than the buses. Maybe because they are 3 kuai (about 40 cents) whereas the buses are 1 kuai (12 cents). The bus was just as crazy as the taxi. It is amazing there are not more accidents.  ¶ 5:24 AM

  Well, I have now been in China for almost two days. I am finally getting over my jetlag, and very sloowly adjusting to only speaking Chinese. My room is nice, although it bears a strong resemblance to a dingy hotel room. It does have a bathroom with a bathtub, air conditioning, and a TV. I have been listening to the TV almost nonstop in the distant hope that this immersion will somehow make me able to speak Chinese, although so far I mainly just understand the commercials. My teachers are very nice, except they make me very nervous, especially because every time I talk to them I feel like I make stupid mistakes. Ah, such is the beginnings of a new language.
The University is nice, with trees and little parks. There is a gate with security guards around it and I think it closes at 11 pm. Outside is a very busy street with tall buildings, including McDonalds and Starbucks (I even saw a Wallmart commercial on TV)--I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, after all, this is a major city. There is a back street near my school however, which is much neater. Decrepit stone walls hide crumbling houses, and there are small stalls along the sides selling the most delicious looking fruit, too bad I can't eat it. Pedestrians, bicycles, and cars all duke it out on the road.
  ¶ 10:15 PM

  Hello everyone, it's the Friday before I leave and I have just established my new blog (web-log, for the luddites out there), where I will write about my life in China in a hopefully interesting fashion.   ¶ 10:33 AM